Avengers EMH: The Grey Warden
by Vicc125
Summary: Richard Prey is a man with a dark past. At age fifteen he became a Superhero in the small town of Redding, California. Seven years later, Richard stumbles across The Grim Reaper and after defeating him, Iron Man offers Richard a place in the Avengers. Richard accepts gladly. But what will he do when an old enemy threatens all of his new friends and the one woman he came to love?
1. The Small Time Hero

Avengers EMH: The Grey Warden

"The Small Time Hero"

New York. Manhattan, New York to be specific. As beautiful and grand as it was, it was a hive for scum. During the day, most people would think nothing of the two men talking behind the newsstand in Times Square. Just a friendly conversation right? Wrong. The two men were actually super-villains in disguise. The taller of the two men was Grim Reaper, a Hydra agent with a cybernetic scythe implant in his right arm. The one on the right was a mystery, but I could feel powerful energy radiating off of him.

Speaking of myself, I guess I should make a quick introduction. My name is Richard Prey. I'm a twenty-two year old man from the small town of Redding, California. Incase you didn't get the hint from the title of this personal journal, I also happen to be a small time hero called 'The Grey Warden.' The name wasn't my choice, but, wearing a grey costume and being a super hero must of linked together in some bystanders head. So I became 'The Grey Warden.' You see, seven years ago in my Sophomore year, I stumbled across a strange machine in one of Redding's backwater warehouses. I made the mistake of touching it an the machine changed my molecular design. I became a synthesis of human biology, pure Carbon, and steel. I possess a power similar to transmutation, meaning, I can change my body in ways that are still a mystery to me. I could change my normal, peachy hand into a steely blade at will. Or even a hammer, or an axe, or a frying pan if I wished. The machine also let my abilities work in opposite ways. If I so choose, I could become a sort of grey goo. Any damage that could be dealt to me would just pass right through me and my body would reform instantly. So I figured let's fight the baddies. And that's what I'm doing.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed my friend Ray's number.

"Uh hello," A tired voice came through my bluetooth.

"Were you sleeping? It's nine in the morning!" I laughed at him.

"It's barely six back here in Cali," he countered.

"Alright, alright. On to business.""Business, dude you're supposed to be on vacation. Isn't that the whole reason the governor payed to send you to New York?"

"I don't go on vacation when there are villains around."

"Sure whatever. What do you need?"

"I'm looking at two men right now. One of them is the Grim Reaper. I want you to identify the other."

"Sure. Just let me lickity-split my way over there in my private jet."

"Ha ha asshole," I said sarcastically, "Hold on, I'm going to override the cameras, just be at the computer with that S.H.I.E.L.D tech."

I pulled a small data pad from my pocket with the logo "Stark Industries" on the back. I turned it on looking around for a camera to access. The data pad came up with two options. I clicked on the first one, which happened to be on a McDonalds sign, and used the cursor to zoom in on the smaller mans face.

"So that's the guy?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, but I don't recognize him. Could he be human?"

"Give me a minute. The computer is running for face matches as we speak."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, this is S.H.I.E.L.D tech after all."

"That you stole."

"Yeah, like you didn't steal that Stark Industries hacking datapad. You realize that if Iron Man happens to be in town, he'll be able to track that."

"One: I found it in the same warehouse that had the power giving machine. Two: I'm pretty sure if I explain that the Grim Reaper is in town he'll be cool with me using it. Maybe we'll even team up.""Or the Avengers show up and completely kick your ass."

"That too."

"Hey! We've got a match!"

"Lay it on me."

"Holy Crap! That's Anton Vanko!"

"Really? Isn't he old? Or dead?"

"No he's Whiplash!"

"Alright thanks later."

"What? You're not gonna fight hi-"

I hung up the phone and thought for a second. I was familiar with the name 'Whiplash.' A soviet scientist who hated Tony Stark for some reason. He utilized deadly repulsor-whips made from stolen Stark technology. Fighting him AND The Grim Reaper wasn't going to be easy. But when did I ever not do something because it was a challenge. Never, because I like challenges. Still, I should be cautious.

I backed into an alley and began to shift my form. My skin became a dull gray and my clothes were sucked into my body and replaced by a one piece spandex suit, complete with a mask. The grey spandex felt like a second skin. Dark grey with black stripes running down the sides of the arms and legs, the suit was probably my favorite thing ever. Besides the stripes and the full mask with only eye holes, the only other thing that stood out on the spandex was the black shield design on the chest with a large GW in gold on it.

I transmutated my hands into claws and scaled the twelve story brick building to my left. From the roof I could see the Grim Reaper and Whiplash walking away from Times Square, heading in my direction. They walked rather quickly, obviously wanting to evade the crowd and find a better place to talk, or fight, or whatever criminal things they were planning to do. They took a left down the same alley I was in only a minute before and began talking.

"Do you have it?" Reaper asked Whiplash.

"Of course, the Arc Reactor," Whiplash answered, "Modified to serve your master's... purpose."

The Soviet scientist put a great deal of emphasis on the word "purpose." I didn't like what these two were talking about. Stealing one of Tony Stark's Arc Reactors isn't something to be taken lightly. These two were planning something big. So I did the only thing I could do. I jumped down and blocked the alleyway.

"Stealing Arc Reactor technology and giving it to a Hydra agent? That doesn't seem like a very sound plan," I said starling them both.

"Is this one of those new Avengers that Stark's been rounding up?" Whiplash asked the Grim Reaper.

"Uhh-"the Grim Reaper stopped to look up.

"No," a mechanical voice sounded behind me, "But he managed to track down both of you in the middle of the most crowded area in Manhattan. Either he's good at recon or you two are loosing your edge."

I looked up at the voice. Hovering about ten feet above us was a red and gold suit made of some kind of metal. I didn't need to be told who it was.

"Iron Man? How did you find us?" I asked.

"I was alerted the second you used my tech to bypass that camera. I came to see who or what had possession of one of the most advanced pieces of encryption technology I've ever built."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"I think we have bigger problems that could be dealt with first. Save the explanation for later."

"Alright, I've got the Reaper. You can catch up with your old friend."

We lunged at our target at the same time. My right hand became a blade as Grim Reaper's scythe grew from his hand. He swung at me from the right but I was able to block it with my own extension. Metal clashed against metal as we participated in a dance of death. The Grim Reaper tried to break my defenses and I tried to break his. To no avail. We were evenly matched. In a quick movement the Reaper deflected my blade and brought down his arm. At the last second my body changed to goo and his scythe harmlessly swung through me. Catching him by surprise, I swung my left fist, which had become solid metal, into his face. Blood sprayed from his broken nose and the Grim Reaper let out a string of threats that sounded a lot like German while he covered his face. I didn't hesitate to act and lunged at him with my right arm, which was still a blade. The Grim Reaper, expecting this, parried to strike on the curve of his scythe and punched me in the jaw, spinning me around. He wrapped my arms in his left hand and held the scythe to my neck.

"You lose!" he screamed in my ear, some of the blood from his nose dripping down my mask.

"Hey Iron Man, I could use a hand."

"You and me both!" He said with two repulsor whips wrapped around his neck.

He managed to grab some sort of card from a slot in his armor and spoke the words:

"Avengers! Assemble!"

"Too late for you," The Grim Reaper sneered in my ear and pressed his scythe closer into my neck.

I tried to change my neck to goo, but realized that he had already broken my skin with the sharp end of the scythe. The cut prevented me from solidifying or softening my neck.

"Hey! Let him go you jerk!" A feminine voice sounded followed by a blast of yellow energy.

The energy knocked the Grim Reaper over and I tumbled to the ground with him. I rolled away from his scythe and stood up. I probed my neck for the injury and felt the cut slowly close. All that remained was a gash in my suit.

"Are you alright?" I turned to see a young woman. She couldn't have been older than twenty-five. She had brown hair and brown eyes. She was dressed in a yellow and black striped costume that had no shoulders, yellow gloves and boots, and black tights. On the sides of her head were two antennas that reminded me of a bee. I'm pretty sure that if my mask was off, I would have dropped my jaw at this beauty.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks."

"No problem, I'm Wasp. What's your name?"

"I'm The Grey Warden. I don't mean to get rid of you, but it looks like Stark might need some help."

"Oh don't worry about that, Cap's on it."

I looked over at Iron Man to see that another hero had arrived. Clad in red, white, and blue with a spherical shield that was painted red, white, and blue with a star in the center, stood Captain America with his hand around Whiplash's neck.

"Wasp! Help our new friend with the Grim Reaper."

The Grim Reaper picked him self up and lunged at the Wasp, who shrunk down to the size of an inch. Turning both hands into swords, I blocked the Reaper's scythe with my left. He jumped back and swung at me with an overhead swing. I easily caught the scythe between my two blades and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled for half a second and then attempted to attack me again, but this time Wasp stopped him with a blast of yellow energy. The battle carried on like that, me blocking the scythe while Wasp stung him with bioblasts.

The Grim Reaper decided he had had enough of our strategy and sprinted at me while screaming a battlecry. He swung down at me with his scythe, which I blocked with my left blade. Wasp blasted him in the back, forcing him to swing to my left. I moved with him, angling my blade so that that scythe was now trapped beneath it. I brought my right arm up and said, "I've had enough of you," before bringing the blade down on his arm and shearing through his cybernetic implant. Captain America, who decided to join the fight after knocking Vanko out smashed his shield into the mans face. The Grim Reaper sank to the ground unconscious.

"Thanks," I said while panting.

"I think we should be the ones thanking you," Captain America said, "Who knows what damage these two could have done if you hadn't intervened."

"Probably nothing, Iron Man was already on his way. Name's The Gre-." I stopped myself and pulled off my mask. If my identity wasn't safe with Captain America, then it wasn't safe with anybody. "Richard. Name's Richard Prey."

"Nice to meet you Richard, I'm Steve," he said as we shook hands.

"When did we start exchanging secret identities?" Iron Man asked while he approached us.

"Right after you decided that having a secret identity for more than five minutes was boring," Wasp countered Stark's sarcastic remark.

"Well if that's the case, then I'm Tony Stark... but you probably already know that. The girl behind you that saved your sorry hide is Janet van Dyne. Or the Wasp."

"You know, it's kind of my choice whether or not to divulge my secret identity," Wasp said.

"It's not really that secret, you don't even wear a mask!" Tony retorted.

"Hey," I said, "Don't argue on my account."

"They do this everyday," Steve said, "Trust me, it's not on your account."

Both Jan and Tony looked at the ground.

Recovering from his sudden embarrassment Tony said, "We should really get these two to Fourty-Two."

Looking at me, Cap said, "Why don't you come along with us? Just in case."

Later

Fourty-Two was a massive jail in some sort of other dimension. I didn't really care to know the specifics, but according to Tony, there was no way of escaping this jail. That was something I liked to hear. Speaking of Tony, somehow I ended up walking the halls alone with him.

"This," he said naming off the millionth prisoner we had passed, "Is Blizzard. He's kind of a coward, but don't be fooled. He's powerful."

"Apparently not powerful enough," I said.

"Yeah, you could definitely handle him on your own."

"You think so?"

"Definitely. I'm impressed with you Richard. You find two of the most dangerous villains in the world on your own, and then you fearlessly decide to battle both. Not to mention the ass-kicking you gave Reaper."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from one of the Avengers, but let's not forget who saved my life."

"The Wasp showed up at a good time but that wasn't my point. You handled yourself really well out there. Not many of heroes, even some of us Avengers, could handle Grim for that long. I think the Avengers could use someone like you."

"Wait what?"

"I'm offering you a place within the Avengers. If you'll take it."

I thought about it for a second.

"A bunch of cool super heroes beating the crap out of bad guys without a thought about their own lives? Sounds good. Count me in," I said shaking his hand.

"Welcome to the Avengers Grey Warden."


	2. Training with Cap

Training With Cap

It had been a week since I accepted Tony Stark's offer to join the Avengers. I'd met all of my fellow Avengers, including the lovely Carol Danvers(Who's mask really creeped me out), the gruesome Hulk(Who I really didn't want to get in a fight with), the emotionless Black Widow(Who scares me MORE than the Hulk), and the infamous Hawkeye(You're still an asshole for replacing my Speed Stick with glue, on my first day too!). They all welcomed me, except for Hulk who thought I was too weak.

My first week consisted mostly of meeting the Avengers, learning the layout of the mansion, learning the layout of the secret base under the mansion, listening to Stark teach me how to operate the machinery inside the house, which there is a lot of, and stopping some Hydra-based group called the Serpent Society with Cap, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Vision. But today was different.

Today I was going to train with Captain America. I don't know why he approached me. It's not like I don't work out every morning. I get up at six and work out for about two and a half hours, shower, eat, and then read up on all the villains that the Avengers caught. Maybe he thought I was clumsy. Maybe he wanted to see how I fared against him. Or maybe he just wanted to beat on someone. Well, maybe not that last one.

I got up two minutes before my alarm went off and grabbed a black short-sleeve shirt and my old purple gym shorts that still fit somehow. I walked down the hall and into the bathroom, stopping only when I heard a loud rumbling noise that sounded like a monster truck. When I questioned Jarvis, he told me it was Janet. Chuckling to my self lightly, I entered the bathroom and turned on the lights. I stopped to admire the granite counters and floors and the jade sink, toilet, and bathtub. Turning to face the mirror, I ran a comb through my hair, brushed my teeth, and then got changed. I took a deep breath and stared at myself in the mirror. It was going to be a long day. I let out a sigh and exited the bathroom, heading for the fireplace that would turn into an elevator and take me to the training room.

"Good morning Richard," Carol said to me as I passed her in the grand hall.

"Mornin' Carol," I greeted her, "What you doing up so early?"

"I haven't even slept yet," she responded, "S.W.O.R.D business. What you doing?"

"Training with Cap," I said with a smirk.

"Good luck with that," she said and headed up the stairs.

I entered the living room, which was very red, and walked over to the keypad on the fire place. I held up my Avengers I.D card so that Jarvis could scan it. A blue light washed over the card and I was identified with a, "Richard Prey, a.k.a The Grey Warden, Welcome."

I stepped in the elevator and pressed the button for the second basement floor. The doors began to close and I saw Wasp drag herself into the living room followed by a lively Hawkeye before they finally shut. The interior lights came on and the 'Iron Man' theme played while I made my slow decent to the second basement floor. After what seemed like a decade, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to Captain America, dressed in a white shirt and brown slacks. His shield was on his back.

"Morning soldier, are you ready to train?" He asked me in his loud and bold voice.

"I'm always ready Cap," I said even though I wasn't.

"Good, because today, I'm going to push you to your very limits.

-In the Living Room-

Tony, Janet, Hank, Hulk, Clint, T'Challa, Natasha, and Vision were all crowded on three couches in the large living room. Tony grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V.

"Jarvis bring up the security cameras in the training room," Tony said.

"This is gonna be good," Clint said with excitement.

"I hope someone brought some popcorn," said the Hulk, "watching bugs get smashed makes me hungry. And happy."

Janet and Hank both shot him a glance and Hulk responded with a shrug.

"I don't know Hulk," Tony argued, "Richard's pretty tough. He took on Grim Reaper by himself and cut the man's scythe off."

This comment made Janet shoot another glance, only this time to Tony, who saw this glance.

"Come on Jan, besides saving Richard from Grim Reaper's death grip, what did you actually do that helped?" Tony asked.

"I'm the one who hit him the most!" She cried out.

"Rich cut off the man's arm scythe thing off!"

"Hank! Aren't you going to defend your girlfriend?" Janet looked to Hank for help.

"We're on one of our off times Jan. You made that very clear last night," Hank said bitterly from the couch that he and Hulk were sitting on.

Crossing her arms and closing her eyes she said, "It doesn't matter. Cap won't hurt Rich anyways."

"The man's still gonna have some bruises Jan," Natasha said.

"Shh! It's starting!" Hawkeye told the group.

-Training Room-

I lunged at Captain America with a hammer-arm. The large man parried the blow with his shield and punched me in the stomach. The blow knocked me onto the ground. I rolled up and tried again, this time with a sword arm instead. Cap parried the blow again, but before he got the chance to punch me, I swung at his stomach with a metal arm. As fast as lightning, the Captain side stepped the blow and then kicked me in the chest. He was expecting to knock me over, but he wasn't surprised when his foot collided with my metal chest, doing nothing. I swung at his head with another metal fist but he simply ducked and kicked my legs out from under me. I got up and took a few steps back.

"In battle," Cap said, "You have to be able to predict your enemies attacks before they happen. If your too slow, or distracted, you're going to get yourself killed."

"You know I've been at this for seven years right?" I asked him, a little irritated at his attempt to teach me.

"How many Super-villains have you stopped?" He retorted.

I stopped to do a quick count. Technically I stopped one. The Grim Reaper. My enemies, while they did have super powers, were not well know and I didn't think Cap would count two jealous city folk as Super-villains.

"Well, I guess just the Grim Reaper."

"Right, and I've stopped hundreds, including the Grim Reaper."

"Sure, but you've only really been active for three years. You maybe be older than me, but you spent a lot of that time in the Arctic."

"Alright if you think you're so tough then come at me. I won't hold anything back."

"Are you sure? I don't want to break you on accident old man."

"I'm sure. Just because I'm old, doesn't mean I'm fragile."

This is the point where I realized that I had just taunted Captain America. Not my brightest idea. I knew that he would knock me to the ground without even trying. I knew that my taunt would look even more arrogant, and I knew that tony and the others were watching this whole thing play out on the camera. I know I would. But what was I supposed to do? Back down? Not a chance. I didn't care how bad Steve would beat me, I'd rather look arrogant than a coward. So I formed my hands into blades.

I charged at Steve brandishing my blade-arms. I swung with the first one, only to completely miss. I saw Cap swing his shield at me and I instantly formed my left arm into a large shield that had no legitimate shape. His shield struck mine and the force cause my arm to shoot to the left. The force was so strong that I actually had to move with my arm, of fear of it falling off. I regained my footing just in time to bring my arms up to block one of Cap's punches. The punch was so hard that I actually slid back a few feet. Cap continued with his attack by jumping in my direction and pulling his shield arm back. I quickly formed my arms together and had them take the shape of a giant maul. I brought the maul down, just in time to meet Cap's shield. The two impacts made a painful ringing sound and we both slid back a couple feet.

This time Steve made the first assault, by throwing his shield at me. I changed my composition into goo and attempted to absorb the shield, only to have it pass right through me. Never in my life had I felt more pain than when Cap's shield passed right through me. I felt the empty whole in my chest ignite a burning flame of pain throughout my body. The material in the unbreakable shield must have reacted in a strange way with the goo composition. Right then I decided that that must have been what werewolves in the movies felt like when silver touched or entered their body.

I tried to get the goo to reform in the center of my chest, but it was like there was a force field in the hole that would not allow me to pass. I sank to my knees, or what should have been my knees since I was goo, and put my left hand in the hole. I allowed my left hand to morph from the gooey maul that it had formed with my right hand into a large glob that touched the edges of the hole. The sensitive edges burned but attached to the glob and reconstructed my chest. I pulled my arm away, and watched as the stump slowly grew back into a hand. I solidified myself, becoming flesh and bone, and slowly stood up.

"Soldier? Are you alright?" Cap asked me with concern.

"Just... Need... A minute.." I said panting loudly.

I had no energy. I could barely stand. But I didn't want the others to think I couldn't handle a short fight.

"That's odd," Steve said, "The vibranium in my shield must have caused some sort of allergic reaction in your body."

"Yeah," I said trying to stand up straighter, "I kind of understood that."

"It must have been painful"

"Than's an understatement. The correct word would be agonizing."

"Don't fall down yet. We're not done. We've still got all day."

"Ugh," I moaned taking a battle stance, "Well then come at me."

-Later that day-

I flopped down on my bed. I was tired, cranky, sweaty, in pain, and irritated. I spent all day training with Captain America and I never laid a single hand on him. I could only imagine how arrogant I must have looked. I personally felt useless. I always prided myself on my battle skill, but today caused me a lot of distress. I didn't care who he was, he could have been Barney for all I cared, I only cared about how weak and green I looked when I was fighting him. And I knew everyone else thought so too. Hulk had stopped me on my way up the stairs, insulting me by calling me a "wimp" and saying I was "unfit to fight with the Avengers." Even Jan couldn't hide a small smile after seeing me exit the elevator with Cap. The only one to offer any sort of comfort was Tony who said, "Cheer up, maybe tomorrow you'll land a punch." I could tell that he thought I was going to do better.

"Richard," I think it was Jan, "Jarvis just finished dinner and- Woah. Are you alright?"

"I'm tired, sore, and bruised to hell. I really hope I don't end up having to fight Cap in a real battle."

She chuckled and said, "Believe me, none of us do. You should've seen Hawkeye after the pounding Cap gave him."

"I did do better than Hawkeye right?" I REALLY hoped I had done better than him.

"Yeah. Hawkeye was wearing a bandage around his head for a week after his session with Cap. Hank couldn't walk for week, and Iron Man was covered in bruises and he only lasted like ten minutes."

Knowing that I had stood up longer than my team made me feel a lot better.

"Thanks Jan," I said.

"For what?" She asked.

"For cheering me up. I really needed that."

"That's what I'm here for," she said with a smiled.

"Alright, I'm starving. Lets get down to the dining room."

"Alright! Jarvis made lasagna tonight!"

"Mmm. My favorite!" I said as we both ran down the stairs, following the sweet smell of homemade lasagna.


	3. Well Dressed

Well Dressed

Steve and I sat in the back of Janet's topless Mustang while she and Hank discussed "the proper time to wear a tuxedo."

"Jan, all I'm saying is that a Tuxedo is a little flashy for this party."

"Hank, the party is being held by Tony Stark at Stark Tower. All of his business associates will be wearing Tuxedos. Heck, all the guys will be wearing Tuxedos!"

"I'm sure a dress shirt with some black pants will be fine! Tuxedos are meant for weddings and funerals. Neither of which I want to attend."

Janet looked a little stung by his words. She quickly regained her composure and looked back at us.

"What do you two think? What are you guys getting?"

"I think a formal Tuxedo is exactly what all men should wear at parties like this," Cap said, "But of course Hank is entitled to his own opinion."

"Of course you would Cap," Janet said looking little unsatisfied, "What about you Richard?"

"I'm wearing this jacket," I said pointing at my crimson leather jacket, "With another pair of black pants like these, some new black dress shoes, and maybe a black dress shirt."

She looked at me like I was crazy and resumed driving without looking at the road, much to Steve's and Hank's dismay.

"Are you serious? What century do you live in? The 1940's?" Cap chose to ignore this comment, "Scratch that. Cap is from the 1940's and he knows how to dress well! Are you a barbarian?"

"Jan, please calm down," Hank said in an attempt to pacify his new, or not so new but forgiving, girlfriend.

Jan glared at him and said to both of us, "I'm dragging you two to JC Penney even if I have to have Cap do it for me!"

"Umm...," said Steve, "Do I have to drag-"

"YES!" Jan said with a firm voice.

"If only the Avengers didn't have to attend this," I said shaking my head.

Janet made a sharp right turn into the parking lot Manhattan Mall. The building was huge! It towered thirteen stories high, although only two stories were in use. Even so the vast size of the place was enough to make me a little nervous. I hated crowds. Every time I was in a vastly populated area, whether it be a city or a mall, someone managed to get hurt. I usually tried to avoid the public, and collateral damage, but my enemies made that a very tough endeavor.

We pulled into the parking lot rather roughly and an agitated Janet demanded that we follow her into JC Penney. Hank and I followed her dejectedly while Steve walked along side her with his head held high. Janet turned around and glared at us then entered the store. Steve smiled apologetically, for whatever reason, and followed her in. Hank and I looked at each other and sighed as we accepted our fate and entered the store last.

-An hour later-

Hank and I sat on a bench in JC Penney while Janet zoomed around the store grabbing every nice tailor suit in sight. Steve, who had already bought a dark grey suit, was looking at the smart phone Tony had bought for him. I think he was trying to learn how to use it, and I was about to help him when Jan showed up and shoved a light grey suit into my arms.

"Both of you go try those on!" Jan said excitedly.

I found my way into a clothing stall and stripped down. I put on the pants and the white dress shirt and buttoned both. Next came the black vest, which complimented my jet black hair, followed by the black tie. I slipped on the black loafers Jan had given me and buttoned up the light grey jacket. Before exiting the stall and returning to the group, I admired myself in the mirror. I did look pretty good. I exited the stall and found my way back to Steve, which was really only two inches from the dressing rooms. Hank hadn't returned and Jan had disappeared again.

"Where did Jan run off to?" I asked the old soldier.

"She went to find herself a dress," said Steve without looking up from his smart phone.

"She only has thirty dresses for the occasion, of course she would need thirty-one," Hank said exiting the dressing rooms.

Hank was dressed in a black Armani suit with a red dress shirt and a black tie underneath. It was completed with brown loafers. He looked alright, until I noticed how badly twisted and deformed his tie was.

"What?" He asked looking at the smile that grown on my face.

"Dude you really need to fix your tie."

"What? It looks fine!"

Steve, who had looked up from his phone, said, "Back in my day, even children knew how to properly tie a tie. So much has changed."

"Says the ninety-five year old World War Two vet playing Angry Birds on his smart phone."

So that's what he was doing.

"What are you guys arguing about?" Jan said walking up to us with a dress in her hands. She then added, "Hank! Your tie! Oh my god!"

I started to laugh as Janet dropped the dress and started obsessing over Hank's tie. I looked over at Steve, who looked at me, and he started laughing with me.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Janet asked me clearly oblivious to the scene she was causing, "Oh I knew that would look great on you!"

My cheeks reddened a little as I said, "Thanks, it was a good pick. I actually like this. But uh, Cap just told me this funny joke."

She looked at Steve expectingly.

"A little boy and his father are listening to the Fuhrer's speech on the radio as Germany declares war on the USA. The boy asks his father where the USA is. The father takes down a globe and runs his hand across the USA, saying 'All of this area of North America, son'.

The boy looks at the globe and asks 'And where is the British Empire?'. The father indicates Britain, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and India on the globe.

"I see", said the boy. 'And where is Russia?' The father showed him the sprawling mass of the USSR on the globe. The boy's eyebrows furrowed with concentration.

'And where is Germany?', he asks. His father points at the area of central Europe where the Reich is located. The boy looks very concerned and says 'Dad, has Hitler seen this?'"

I just looked at Steve with awe as he told the joke, in truth it wasn't very funny as nobody laughed, but the fact that he actually told a joke completely surprised me. And he did it without a single hesitation.

"Heard it before? Thought so. It was invented in the 1940's" Steve said with a little sigh. "Such little humor these days."

Jan ushered Hank into the fitting room and waited by the door as he changed into what I could only guess was another suit. I stood around with my suit in a bag as I tried not to look at Jan in the short black dress she was wearing. I tried looking at Cap, the floor, and I even pretended to look at my jacket for scuff marks but I always ended up looking at her again. It was an odd feeling.

"You've been staring at Jan a lot," Cap said looking me in the eyes.

"Huh?"

"It's fairly obvious, she's been over there for about ten minutes and your eyes keep drifting to her after every fifteen seconds."

"Oh," I said.

"You could talk to her. I know you guys still talk to women you like."

"Yeah, but she's dating Hank right now."

"You should still be honest. The best thing to do is to let her know."

"Does Carol know about how attracted you are to her?" I said completely guessing at his attraction to her.

"What?! How did you know? I've been so careful in trying to act normal around her!"

"That's exactly how I know, I can tell you've been trying," I lied through my teeth.

"Well I guess there's no point in hiding it. No she doesn't know, but I hope she will after Friday night."

"Reveal it at the party? Nice. That's a pretty smooth idea."

"You think it'll work?"

"Well it's a genius idea. So if she's attracted to you at all, which I'm sure she is, then you should have nothing to worry about."

He nodded and said, "Thanks soldier. Now about Janet."

"What about me?" Janet said from behind me, causing me to jump.

"Oh we just thought that, well, maybe you're being a little too hard on Hank." I said turning to face her, "He's not used to this thing after all."

"Oh no! Do you think so?" Her face changed to show horror.

"I better go apologize!" She said and quickly ran back to the changing rooms.

"That wasn't right." Cap said, "You lied to her."

"And you knew she was behind me when you said, 'Now about Janet.'"

"Yep."

"So how about we both agree that we did something wrong and never talk about it again?"

"Alright Richard, if that's what you want."

"Thanks Cap, but I think I can handle this on my own."

"If you say so," The old soldier said with clear disapproval.

I sat on the bench next to Cap and thought about what he said. He was right. I needed to tell her about how I felt. But what would Hank say when he found out? And when Hank found out, it would only lead to problems between the two of us. But honestly, Hank wasn't the reason I refused to tell her. It wasn't fear that she wouldn't reciprocate the feeling either. It was guilt. I knew it was. It had been so long since I let myself even be attracted to someone and, with good reason. The last time I had feelings for someone, she ended up getting hurt because of my secret. My burden. My enemies. I couldn't let that happen to anyone else. I wouldn't let that happen to anyone else. Alison didn't make it. And I knew if I let myself get close to her, Janet wouldn't either.

_I looked upon the large tower. It was so strange to see a tower in Redding, especially since the tallest building was only seven stories high. The gargantuan tower stood at least forty stories in the air. A building feat which should have been impossible, but with the power of the Crucible, it was all too real._

"_You're going in there, aren't you?"_

_I turned to look at the teenage girl beside me. Alison Sandoval looked at me with her big blue eyes. I took a second to marvel at her, thinking it might be the last chance I got. Her long brown hair reached her mid-back, and her small figure looked small and insignificant against the red horizon. I felt only sorrow in my heart as I looked at her, but I knew I couldn't show it._

"_I have to. This is my responsibility as The Grey Warden."_

"_Richard, you don't have any responsibility! Nobody asked you to be the Warden! My dad told me that the military was coming in to handle it! Please, lets just go back to my house," she pleaded with me, while tears formed in her eyes._

"_Look, I know what Lieutenant Sandoval-"_

"_Stop calling him that! You know his name! He treats you like family! Why do you have to be so formal!" Again she tried to indirectly persuade me to return with her, this time pulling the "We're like family now" card._

_I grabbed her softly by shoulders and said, "John doesn't know what the Crucible is. He doesn't know what it can do. The military can throw all the tanks they want at it; it's indestructible and only someone who has been augmented by the machine can stop it. I'm the only one who CAN stop it. If there were another way..."_

"_We can find one!"_

"_We don't have enough time. Karson's going to set the Crucible off within the hour. I'm sorry, but I have to go."_

"_You know where to find me when you're done playing hero," she said. She smiled at me but the pain in her eyes told me how she really felt._

_I couldn't lie to her any longer. _

"_Don't wait up. I might be awhile," I said as my voice cracked._

_The look she gave me told me that she understood exactly what I meant. Heartbroken was all I saw, and heartbroken was all I felt. But this was my responsibility. This was my place in life, and no matter how much I resented it and felt burdened by it, I knew I would always be the Grey Warden._

"_Richard.." She said._

"_I have to g-"_

_I was cut off by Alison when her lips smacked on to mine in a final parting kiss. It wasn't deep or long, nor did it have any tongue or lust. But it had meaning. It meant, "I'll always wait for you."_

_And so with a final look into each others eyes, we walked our separate ways. She walked down the dirt road that would lead back to Redding, and I walked in the opposite direction towards the large black tower. _

Later that evening, the news reported that the black structure outside of Redding had exploded for unknown reasons. There was no evidence of a military attack, and nothing confirmed that the building had any sort of explosive device. It just exploded, leaving no survivors. Except they were wrong. Karson and I survived the explosion by busting through a wall. He had heavy internal bleeding and died minutes later. I got lucky and made by with only a few deep cuts.

_I never did go back to see Alison Sandoval. I was presumed dead, and as long as I was 'dead', she was safe from Karson and any other enemies of mine. I know she wouldn't have cared about her own safety. She would have protested and yelled until I gave in and stayed with her. That's why I didn't go back. We never officially dated. We were just friends but I'd like to think that she would agree with me when I say that, she was only real girlfriend I had in my life, and I was the only boyfriend that she would have stayed with. Then I left her, hoping that she would believe I was dead. But she knows I lived through the explosion. She knows I left her behind, and I think that's what hurt her the most._


End file.
